Raymond “Larry” Nichols, 60, has been receiving treatment in a Tulsa hospital, District Attorney Jeff Smith said. Smith said he did not know specifically from what ailment Nichols suffered.

Jail Administrator Claude Jones said federal privacy laws prevent the jail from releasing specific medical information about an inmate. Nichols, who has chronic medical conditions, was taken to a local hospital about two days ago and transferred to Tulsa from there, Jones said.

Nichols returned to the LeFlore County Detention Center Tuesday afternoon, Jones said. No new conditions were found at this time, and Nichols will undergo follow-up exams, he said.

Nichols faces a first-degree murder charge in the fatal shooting of Neff, his ex-brother-in-law. Except for his hospitalization, he has been held at the jail since his Aug. 8 arrest. When authorities booked Nichols into the jail, Nichols used oxygen equipment.

According to investigator reports, an employee of Neff’s bar near Poteau, the Long Branch Saloon, reported Neff missing when she reported to work on May 14, 2009, and saw signs of a struggle, Neff’s cowboy hat lying on the floor and a large amount of blood inside the bar.

According to an affidavit by Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation agent Shawn Ward, three days later, two fishermen found Neff’s body in a rural Pocola strip pit pond. An autopsy found Neff died from a single gunshot wound to the head.

A state medical examiner recovered a projectile that OSBI firearms examiners determined to be a copper-jacketed 9 mm pistol bullet. Markings on it, the affidavit states, are consistent with its having been fired from a Ruger 9 mm pistol.

In July, OSBI agents asked the Oklahoma Highway Patrol Dive Team to search the strip pit pond where Neff’s body was found more than four years ago. According to Ward’s affidavit, the divers found a 9 mm semi-automatic, P89 Ruger pistol buried in the silt.

OSBI firearms experts found the gun’s serial number matched the serial number of a pistol Nichols’ common-law wife bought for Nichols in December 2001. According to the affidavit, the experts determined that gun had fired the bullet that was removed from Neff at autopsy.